{"id":43473,"date":"2025-11-21T09:54:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.italpassion.fr\/?p=43473"},"modified":"2025-11-21T09:54:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:54:29","slug":"alfa-romeo-bimotore-16-c-when-enzo-ferrari-challenged-german-superpowers-with-two-540-hp-8-cylinders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.italpassion.fr\/en\/alfa-romeo\/alfa-romeo-bimotore-16-c-quand-enzo-ferrari-voulut-repliquer-aux-surpuissantes-machines-allemandes-avec-deux-8-cylindres-de-540-ch\/","title":{"rendered":"Alfa Romeo Bimotore 16 C: when Enzo Ferrari wanted to strike back at Germany's overpowering machines with two 540 hp 8-cylinders!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After dominating the grand prix scene in the early '30s, it was a cold shower in 1934 for Alfa Romeo<\/a>. The new European championship is based on the Formula Libre system, which imposes a minimum weight of 750 kilos while allowing total freedom of choice for the engine. The Milanese marque got the season off to a flying start with victories in Monaco and the French Grand Prix, but Mercedes and Auto-Union burst onto the scene during the course of the season and reshuffled the cards.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heavily subsidized by the Nazi regime, the two German manufacturers launched sophisticated, overpowered machines that enabled them to crush the competition. Faced with the Auto-Union Type A's 4.3-liter 16-cylinder and the Mercedes W25's 4.0-liter in-line 8-cylinder, both blithely exceeding 300 hp, Alfa Romeo found itself powerless with its valiant but aging P3, whose 8-cylinder, increased to 2.9 liters, could only contend with 255 hp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferrari vs. Germany<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the mid-1930s, nationalist fervor, exacerbated by authoritarian fascist regimes, found an ideal arena for expression in motor racing. Speed, power, technology and daring were all values highlighted by motor sports, and were likely to be recuperated and instrumentalized by authoritarian regimes, eager for propaganda and patriotic exploits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's hard to say whether the order came directly from the highest levels of government, but Scuderia Ferrari's mission in 1935 was to strike back at Germany's insolent war machines! Since 1933, the \"Commendatore\"'s structure (he hated this nickname) had taken over from Alfa Corse as the manufacturer, in financial difficulties, had had to concentrate on road cars. Let's not forget that the brand was then under the control of the IRI, a state body that had been set up by the Fascist regime to save Italian banks from bankruptcy and support the national economy, at the time of the Great Depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To counter Germany, Enzo Ferrari had an idea: rather than producing a new large-displacement engine, which is not really the trademark of Italian mechanical engineering, why not combine two engines? Think outside the box. After all, Alfa Romeo had already tried this in 1931 with the Tipo A, or 12C-3500, which combined two 1750cc 6-cylinders. The Bimotore concept was thus on track, but it had to move fast, as the green light was given late, in January 1935! Development had to be speeded up, in a few months at most, in order to be operational as soon as possible. Lugi Bazzi was entrusted with this delicate mission, which would be carried out in Modena, in the Scuderia workshops. The Alfa Bimotore can thus be considered the very first racing machine to be designed and produced in the Maranello workshops!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16 cylinders, but yes!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In view of the very short time available, Bazzi based the car on the chassis of the old P3 and drew inspiration from the \"Aero\" bodywork designed in 1934 with Breda for speed circuits. The wheelbase was lengthened by 15 centimetres to accommodate the two 8-cylinder engines. But rather than coupling them together, side by side, one is placed in front of the driver and the other, mounted upside down, behind the driver. This is a complex arrangement, as the two engines have to be linked via a long shaft, which is connected to a single gearbox and clutch. Motion is transmitted to the rear wheels via two secondary V-shafts, as on the P3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Traction remains limited to the rear axle, which is set in motion by a differential located at the output of the three-speed gearbox. The driver's seat is relocated above the gearbox, while the fuel tanks migrate to the sides of the body, in the form of two pontoons. A mechanism under the gearshift lever enabled the driver to disconnect the engines and start them before they were synchronized, and it was also possible to drive with a single engine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Nicolas Anderbegani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo Nicolas Anderbegani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The two engines, which each develop 270 horsepower thanks to the compressors, give a displacement of 6.3 liters and a total power of 540 horsepower - 80 more than the Auto-Union! To give you an idea of these figures, we'll have to wait until the early 80s and turbocharged engines to see such power again in F1!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bimotore bites the dust in Libya<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In April, just a few months after the project was launched, the Bimotore 16C was tested on the Brescia-Bergamo freeway. While the power was there, with a top speed estimated at over 330 km\/h, engineers and drivers were skeptical about the stability and agility of the monster, which, with its two engines, weighed in at just under 1,300 kilos and consumed a lot of fuel! Apart from Formula Libre, the Bimotore disqualifies itself from all other types of racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But there's no time to procrastinate. In May, the Tripoli Grand Prix takes place in the heart of the Italian colony of Libya, on the fast Mellaha circuit. The German teams will obviously be there, and Alfa Romeo has a duty to stand up to them! On \"Italian\" soil, the Fascist regime cannot accept a new affront. Two Bimotore were dispatched, in two variants: the 540 hp 6.3-liter was entrusted to Tazio Nuvolari, who had returned to the fold after a season with Maserati. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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